To wonder if everyone lives in a mess??

[user1472151176]

I'm a SAHM and have been for the past 18 months. I have one child at school and one toddler at home with me. My house is always a mess! I'm sure my house used to be tidier when I worked 4 days a week. I genuinely believed my house would be tidier if I was at home all day but it isn't. My days fly past.
I often wonder what other peoples houses are like and if they would still be immaculate if I spontaneously 'dropped by'.
There is always food on the table and clean clothes to wear but I never seem to be able to get on top of it all.
Tell me I'm not alone ?!?!
I do have a DH. He works long hours and doesn't do any housework but he does help with the kids and cooking and gardening and tidys up the front room every night when I put the kids to bed.

[Moominfan]

My house could be cleaner but I'd rather nap, read, gym, uni work and waste time on the internet (including munsnetting) I'm at peace with mess till we have guests then you'll never see me move so quick

[Twinkie1]

My house is tidy, there is never anything unwashed or unironed, beds are always made and loos always have bleach down them. Everyone comments on it but I am a bloody nervous wreck from making sure it's is continuously spotless. I wish I could sit down before everything is done but anxiety starts creeping in and I'm up pottering, wiping stuff, picking up and rearranging. 😳

[Zeitgei5t]

It's not a mess, it's a state of the art home alone-esque burglar deterrent.

[WazzitCalled]

I hate cleaning and tidying but I hate living somewhere messy even more. I’ve a cleaner these days but I didn’t have one when the kids were little. I found that there was no secret to keeping the house clean other than to stop fancying around and just do it. If you work fast and decisively then you can do a lot in a short time frame. You’ve just got toget on with it. Unless you have health issues and or kids which require extra help then there is no excuse not to have a clean and
tidy(ish?) if that is what you want.

What I dislike is people like my SIL who complains and complains about how messy and unclean her house is but who does NOTHING about it. Her DH works extremely long hours and her kids are in their teens. She is lovely but she is lazy. 😂

[crunchymint]

Our house used to be pretty immaculate most of the time. Neither DP or I can be bothered any more. Everyone is fed, has clean clothes and the house is okayish. This is good enough for me.

[WazzitCalled]

Fannying around not fancying around.

[user1472151176]

I don't like the mess but I think I am naturally untidy. I'm one of those people that think I'll put that away afterwards but don't then I end up with piles of things and sooooo many toys! My children do not need this many toys. I would say my house is clean but I'd love to declutter so cleaning is easier - maybe when my ds starts preschool and I have more hours to myself. He is my priority and I'd rather play then clean at the moment.
I'm not sure a cleaner would help I need someone to wave a magic wand

[x2boys]

It's tidy for a few hrs a day when the kids are at school ds2 has complex learning disabilities and autism and creates chaos where ever he goes so tbh it's like sweeping leaves in a hurricane trying to keep it tidy when hes at home .

[TheFirstMrsDV]

Its hard to have a tidy house when you have young children.
Cleanliness is my priority. I would rather have a clean house with toys scattered about than a tidy but grubby one.

I like 'stuff' so I make it harder for myself but, much as I admire minimal houses, I don't want to live like that.

Make sure there is somewhere to put everything. You can't have a tidy house if there is nowhere to put toys etc.
Don't let clean washing pile up. Better to fold it and put it away un ironed than have loads of it waiting to be ironed.
Deal with certain things immediately ie. food dirt, washing and paperwork.
Spills and stain will only get worse if left and are likely to smell.
Dirty clothes get harder to clean, smell and will mean scrabbling around for things you need at your busiest times.
Piles of paper look bad and make you feel guilty.

Work out how YOU want to live. Don't worry about anyone else. If you don't mind a bit of chaos its fine. If it upsets you then find ways of changing.

But don't beat yourself up about it.

[Idontdowindows]

We couldn't keep a previous home tidy no matter what we did. And then we moved and actually got rid of almost 1000kg (nope, not a typo) of stuff that had accumulated over the years.

The new house was a lot easier to keep tidy and since then I've thrown away at least another 500kg of stuff.

It's a lot tidier with less stuff!

[morningconstitutional2017]

My house is never super tidy like in the magazines. Lack of storage doesn't help. I always look forward to some time in the future when I actually acquire this mythical storage when it'll look lovely. I'm not sure it'll ever happen.

[abitoflight]

House is generally tidy and almost always clean thanks to a cleaner. I loathe family putting stuff on kitchen table/ worktops. I really don't like overflowing cupboards anywhere and I'm quite strict on having somewhere to put things away before I buy things
I'm not keen on storage solutions as it can encourage too much stuff being kept.
My worktops need a wipe after lunch time soup making but walked off and left it until later tho as a Sunday afternoon snooze is calling me and it can wait

[MissTeri]

My house could be cleaner but I'd rather nap, read, gym, uni work and waste time on the internet (including munsnetting) I'm at peace with mess till we have guests then you'll never see me move so quick - Exactly the same here. I'm just lazy and like to procrastinate. I always think 'well it's only going to get a mess again so what's the point??'

[Mymadworld]

I'm a childminder so my house looks like a bomb site between 7:30am & 6pm. First job once little ones go home is tidy, wash up & quick hoover so by 7pm it looks pretty tidy. Until the next morning . Weekends will very much depend on whether we've got visitors but generally I like to end the day tidy but it's certainly not pristine.

[eridanus]

I live in a mess, however I have seen friends houses and they are even messier! I know that one day my kids will be grown up and gone and my house will be as perfect as it was before I had them, but it will be emptier too. I just kind of changed attitude and as long as food isn't stuck to things, lose the battle and let go a bit.

[turnipfarmers]

Ours is messy but I can do a quick tidy in ten-fifteen minutes to make it presentable enough; at least I can downstairs.

[CuppaSarah]

We're clean, but messy. We always tidy at the end of the day, but ds is a very energetic boy who needs a lot of input and stimulation. When he starts preschool it will get better. But right now a tidy house isn't a priority.

Don't get me wrong, it's not awful, just lots of lego appears on the lounge floor, dds drawings sitting on side to be admired before migrating to the recycling bin. Things like that. The house from outnumbered is what I'd compare it to.

[tinytemper66]

My house is messy this week as I have hurt my back and it has affected my arm. Hope a chiropractor will sort me out. My husband has been in work so things haven`t been done. My son was home from the forces for the weekend so he did a bit before he went back to his camp.
Looking forward to Easter hols to have a good spring clean.

[RoadToRivendell]

Pretty tidy here, but a shit tip when I had toddlers.

[Mollieben]

My house is usually pretty tidy. The kids rooms get in a mess when they are playing but I keep everywhere else tidy (ish!)

[icelolly99]

Marie Kondo helped me break the seemingly endless cycle of tidying/cleaning and repeat.

[MatildaTheCat]

I’ve always been tidy. I just always do stuff as I go along and always have. When dc were small there was a tidy up time before bathtime. I never ever go up or downstairs unless I’m carrying something. Laundry goes on as soon as there’s a load. When I cook I’m wiping down and putting away while prepping. Sometimes I even wash a pan or two when the food is on the plates .

We are all different. Oddly though the inside of my car is a tip.

[rainbowfudgee]

My house is usually a bit untidy as I don't mind a few toys hanging around. But kitchen is always clean and bathrooms cleaned twice a week. I keep on top of the dishwasher and laundry. I work part time. We have a big house so something always needs doing. I pick a couple of jobs a day which need doing most eg hoover downstairs, change a couple of beds. My cleaner comes every 2 weeks for 3 hours to really get on top of it then I do bits here and there in between. DH can reliably take bins out, mow the lawn, empty dishwasher and cook at the weekend but is useless at cleaning. As long as it's not a health hazard a bit of mess is fine.

[hilbil21]

Mine isn't great. But it has got better since joining a group on Facebook called TEAM TOMM (the organised mum method). She also has a blog ... it's helped a bit

[ChodeofChodeHall]

No, but then there are two of us to do the housework. No wonder you can't cope if you don't get much support.